Nothing is mine.

The end of this chapter is missing another scene that's not for kids! But my website has the rest if you want to find it. It also contains some big hints for the puzzle.

And, especially for Tony, whose reviews I always enjoy: you don't really think I added the Bella PoV to ACVR with all those hints about trump cards, not dying, being a ghost, and then had the whole the unresolved Black inheritance thing throughout AToIW just for the last chapter to be made up on the spot for no reason, do you? But you're right, if Bella turns out not to be dead, perhaps other characters who are hinted at not being dead or having a "trump card" might also be alive... xD

The Resplendent Sun

White pebbles. A sharp hot little twist of feeling coiled in Harry's breast as he stood at the river's edge, simmering searing heat slicing deep and sweet through his heart. There is something…

He choked it down and lifted the small circular mirror up. 'The Herald of Foes…'

Ba'alat Tanit's Looking Glass.

Harry slid his wand from his sleeve and cut his finger, letting a drop of blood bead at its tip and splash onto the shining silver surface. It trickled down the smooth glass, leaving a slim crimson line down the mirror's centre.

The world cracked; it broke open about the trail on the glass like an egg. Shadows spilt from within, flooding over Harry and into the dancing dark; the line of blood unfurled like a gleaming ribbon, stretching off into the gloom, a crimson thread snaking into the abyss.

Hermione held out her hand from the black. 'You have to go back.' Bright silver glinted at her throat; it shone sharp as the edge of a knife, setting uneasy little teeth gnawing at Harry as she cupped it in her hand. 'I can't come with you. Not this time. I just wish I could….' Tears hovered in her eyes. 'You have to go back.'

A tiny flicker of gold sprang up on the metal heart; a single shimmering tongue of amber, shivering like a candle above the locket on her palm.

'And I have to disappear,' Hermione whispered.

The little golden fire swelled, bursting from the silver heart and swallowing it up in a wisp of ink-black mist. Amber flames washed across her palm, wreathing her fingers; she stared, blinking back tears.

'Perfect wishes…' Hermione whispered, pressing her blazing golden hand to her face. 'Perfect wishes don't come true…'

The amber fire ate Hermione's fingers away, dancing on her cheeks and lips as they blackened and split; her hair caught, and her eyes melted like wax, running down her cheeks and curling from her burning flesh in slim wisps of pitch black vapour.

She stood in the dark, consumed; a shadow within a shroud of bright flame.

Golden light burst from Hermione's silhouette like rays of sun, leaving a fading wisp of black mist in her place and swelling into a wave of blazing amber.

'Two for the flames,' Sophonissa whispered somewhere in the fire.

'One of two,' Harry's own voice murmured in his ear. 'One of two.'

The golden light seared bright; it bled away into white pebbles, rippling river water and swaying green willow fronds; sweet wildflowers' scent hung on the faint warm breeze rustling through the green fields and leaves. Fleur's crimson-threaded wedding ring hung before the willow trunk, clinking against the tiny glass vial of phoenix tears.

Grindelwald. Harry smothered a stab of anxiety and turned the mirror over. Of course it's still him. He's still out there.

'But now…' He smeared blood across the shining silver glass and held his breath.

A single crimson spark shone in the dark deep below the waves; it flickered above Katie's small fingers, the bright red reflected in her wide green eyes.

'Eclipse them all,' Sophonissa's shadow demanded, spreading wings of tattered red flame. 'Eclipse them all, last son of Kart Hadasht.'

The crimson spark split in two, its glow swelling to fierce violet as it splintered into countless swirling motes, rising up into the dark above him, spinning faster and faster and faster.

'The sunset that eclipses the world,' Luna's ghost whispered behind him as the sparks shivered into glowing glyphs overhead.

The spiral of purple runes blurred into a whirl of brightness, sucked inward to a star of searing white light above Katie's silver curls.

'A final victory,' Fleur murmured in his ear. 'La Victoire Finale.'

The pale star burst into a wave of emerald light, washing everything away.

Harry set Ba'alat Tanit's Looking Glass down in the melted, warped pensieve. It's not changed. Anxiety chewed at him, gnawing at his heart with small, cold sharp teeth. Did we fail? Is that why I escaped?

Harry swept the black silk back off the Mirror of Erised.

Katie reached up to him, grabbing for him with her small hands, her bright green eyes wide and pleading. Behind her silver curls and outstretched arms, the sky shone pink and orange and gold.

'Hello, baby bird,' Harry whispered, swallowing a fierce stab of burning need. 'Are you dreaming happily? We'll see you soon, I promise.' He pressed his fingers into the glass until they throbbed and stung. 'It can't be long now.'

I gave it all up. I sacrificed it all. Harry crushed the niggling doubts down into the dark. I was certain I had, so it must have worked. Maybe it's not changed because it's the final victory and there's just nothing more to show.

'It's only a matter of how the price was paid,' he murmured. 'And even that doesn't really matter. Whatever it takes was worth it.' Harry watched the green of Katie's eyes bleed black and little white feathers prickle along her arms. 'I know… It won't be long now. And then—' the words caught on a burning twist of yearning '—then I'll be able to hold you again.' Brief humour tugged at the corner of his mouth as his thumbnail flashed hot. 'Your maman and I might not put you down for a few weeks, little chick, but you'll probably like that, you're a very clingy veela hatchling.'

Fleur wrapped her arms around his chest from behind, resting her head on his shoulder; her warm breath tickled the side of his neck. 'I felt you come here while I was mending the wards in eastern France. Are you fretting, mon Cœur?'

'Only a little,' he murmured. 'I know it worked. I was certain. But how…?'

'Because we deserved it,' Fleur whispered in his ear. 'We gave up everything else for this.'

'I know it doesn't matter, I'd pay any price.' The little niggle of doubt wormed through his heart. 'It's just…'

'The boy who never had any wishes come true doesn't trust the one that does.' She sighed. 'You are hopeless, mon Amour.'

'Pardon.' Harry turned and pulled her close, breathing in the faint scent of cherry blossoms. 'It's just a feeling. Sometimes when you're gone, there's… something. Something… missing.'

'Me, non?' Fleur shook her head, the crystal-encased wisteria flower swaying beneath her ear. 'You are just missing your beautiful bird-wife. As you should.'

'It's not the same,' he whispered as the soft hollow feeling crept in. 'It feels… it feels like you're not coming back.'

Her blue eyes narrowed. 'But you know I am.'

'I know.' Harry wrapped his arms tight around her waist; the warmth of her skin soaked through the charcoal grey silk into him, filling the hollow in his heart with a gentle glow. 'It's fine now. You're here where I can touch you. But when you're not, it's like you've vanished.' Words welled up from some dark place. 'Gone again. But not really gone. Just — just out of reach…'

Fleur rested her head on his shoulder. 'You were like this a little before, when you came back to me all distant and dazed and scrambled after dying. It will pass.'

He ran his hand through her silver hair, smiling as it flowed through his fingers like shining silk. 'It feels too good to be true.'

'Je sais,' she murmured. 'I know. When our little chick was born, I had this horrible little fear that something might happen. That because she was not part of me and I couldn't feel her in me anymore, she was not real. That if I took my eyes off her, she might be gone when I came back.'

'That was just Gabby stealing her away to corrupt her.'

A small sad smile flitted across Fleur's lips. 'She was so perfect. The little angel we made together. I was almost afraid to touch her sometimes, in case I broke the spell and she disappeared.' Her smile faded. 'But she never disappeared. She was always there. She still is. And so am I.'

'I know.' Harry pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, braiding her hair into a tangle and mustering a little grin. 'I will just carry on as if it has worked. It must have.'

'It doesn't matter how it happened,' Fleur murmured, her warm breath brushing his collarbone. 'We would be waiting for our baby bird to come back to us and enjoying our sunset in any case.'

Waiting and hoping. The doubt gnawed at his heart. Left wishing.

'Not just waiting,' Harry said. 'I have a promise to keep.'

So that even if it was all sacrificed somehow, I'm still making sure Katie gets her dreams.

Black bled into Fleur's eyes and heat washed against his back. 'Fire.'

'There will be no crucible for our little chick. She won't grow up watching things being taken away from her—'

'No shallow little girls who hate her because she's better than they are,' Fleur whispered, her irises fading to summer sky blue. 'No more hurting.'

'Like we promised.' Harry kissed her, teasing the knots out of her tangled silver hair and smoothing it down.

She gave him a small tearful smile. 'I wish we could have given her a little sister.'

'She will have us—' Harry rested his hand on her tummy, the warm grey silk smooth beneath his fingers '—one perfect wish is more than I ever hoped for.'

'And now nothing can take it away.' Fleur took a shaky breath and stepped back, the dark creeping back into her irises. 'But they are out there somewhere, mon Amour. Smiling. Laughing. Happy.' White feathers prickled along her bare arms and her chin shifted beneath her skin, sharpening. 'And Gabby is not. She will never be any of those things again.'

'Angelina and Tracey are dead. They cast the spell—'

'And the ones who sent them?' Fleur demanded.

'I don't know which or if all of them did,' Harry replied. 'But I do know who they are. Neville told me. Ginny. Zacharias Smith, Marietta Edgecombe, Dean Thomas, Percy Weasley. Perhaps Susan Bones, but I don't think so.'

'We will find out if there are any others.'

'Ginny will be obstinate and hard to get anything from,' Harry murmured. 'And I am not certain she was involved directly. Covering for it, perhaps, but not aware what it was.'

Fleur's dark eyes narrowed. 'You do not want to go after her.'

'She's fighting for her dreams, the same way we did. And I saved all those wishes for her. Twice. I don't want to take them away unless I have to. Dreams shouldn't be turned to dust for nothing.'

'The others, then?'

'Some or one of them must be responsible. Angelina and Tracey didn't come here of their own accord. They would've told the rest of the Resplendent Sun about Neville meeting with someone in France and then some or all of them decided to attack us. We'll find out from them.'

'What if it was Ginny?'

A sharp cold point of ice froze in his chest. 'Then she'll find out that the dreams I gave her back in the Chamber of Secrets can be taken away again.'

And the Resplendent Sun have done nothing but stoke the flames of war; they're in league with Grindelwald or just as bad as him. Katie will be happier and safer waking up in a world without them. A dagger of ice stabbed at his stomach. But my horcrux is gone; if La Victoire Finale hasn't worked…

'No risks,' Harry murmured.

'No more hurting.' Fleur's white feathers shrank back beneath her skin and her eyes lightened to bright blue. 'I want to make the most of every moment Gabby gave us. Like she wanted.'

'Je sais,' he whispered. 'We won't waste her sacrifice. It won't be for nothing.' Harry's gaze strayed to the pensive. 'Will you be able to fix it? To see Gabby again, like I did with my Katie?'

'The ritual has ruined the enchantments,' she replied, staring at the warped, melted runes. 'It was worth it, but I do not think it can be fixed yet. It was not all my own work.'

Harry nodded and pointed to the worst affected runes at the top ring. 'Gabby's runes were using my research on time, but I don't know exactly how she did it…'

'Runes and time magic.' Fleur's lower lip crept out. 'We have spent enough time thinking about those recently. Is there not something you would rather be looking at over here, mon Amour?' She slid one finger under the strap of her charcoal grey dress and pushed it along the pale skin of her shoulder; it tumbled over her arm and hung loose.

A little heat fluttered through his veins.

'I am sure I can give you something much nicer to stare at.' Fleur hooked the other strap off and let the front of her dress slide down. 'Non…?' She wavered out of sight.

'Definitely, yes,' Harry murmured, apparating back into their bedroom.

Fleur sat on the edge of their bed, clutching the front of her blue Beauxbatons robes in both hands and shooting shy glances through her silver hair.

'You changed very fast,' he said. 'I'm actually really impressed.'

The corner of her mouth curled up into a small smirk. 'I am so glad you're here, Harry. I need your help.'

'And what do you need my help with, mon Trésor?'

'I am half-veela and I am about to go through my veela maturity.'

'Strange,' Harry said. 'I thought there weren't any half-veela and I don't remember this veela maturation thing being mentioned at any point before.'

'It is a very closely guarded veela secret,' Fleur murmured. 'When we go through our veela maturity, we are driven by our inexplicable veela magic to mate with the first suitable male nearby and bond to him forever.'

'That sounds incredibly hard to believe.'

'Oh, it is true, I promise.'

'I suppose, given you're a half-veela, I should take your word for it and not ask any troublesome questions,' Harry said, fighting back a smile. 'I will happily help. When the moment comes, I can try to find a suitable male for you?'

'It is too late,' Fleur said. 'Despite knowing how horribly it could go wrong, I have inexplicably denied my nature until the last moment. My maturation could happen any second. We have absolutely no other feasible options but for you to claim me as your veela mate and soulbond with me forever.'

'While that sounds like something I should spend a lot of time thinking about the consequences of, you said the word mate, therefore I am going to gloss over the true horror of this situation and skip straight to the next bit, which I assume is mind-blowing sex?'

Fleur flashed him a coy little smile. 'Some'zing will definitely be blown.'

Heat trickled south and he stiffened against his jeans. 'Oh, the strong French accent you never had is back again; it must be a half-veela thing.' Harry took a step closer. 'So how does the bond happen? What do I need to do to nobly save you, my half-veela in distress?'

'Eet starts wiz a kiss,' Fleur whispered, stretching up to press her lips to his. 'And zen you must claim me as yours.'

'So long as I'm yours, that doesn't sound too bad.'

'Sometimes ze bond is inexplicably misogynistic and you can still sleep wiz any ozzer girls you want and not only will ze veela not mind, but want to join in, but fortunately, zis is a special case, because for reasons I will promise to tell you about later but never mention again, you are also mine.'

'I had a feeling that would be the case,' Harry murmured, smiling into her kisses. 'I have a very possessive bird-girl. She isn't very keen on sharing.'

'It is ze bond.' Fleur's fingers twisted the button of his jeans open and tugged down the zip. 'My magic has chosen you as ze best possible mate and does not zink any ozzers are worthy.'

'I'd hope so.' Harry grinned. 'We are married.'

'Do not ruin the fantasy, mon Amour.' She shot him a sultry look and slid his jeans and underwear down, drawing him out. 'You must claim me to complete the bond—' Fleur eased him back a step and sank to her knees '—do not be afraid to be a little rough; I am your veela mate and inexplicably remade by magic in a very terrifying way to be a guilt-free way to have everything you could ever fantasise about.'

'That sounds too good to be true,' Harry murmured as she swept her hair back over her shoulder. 'But why look a gift sex-crazed bird witch in the mouth?'

Fleur pressed a small kiss to him and looked up at him through her dark lashes with smouldering blue eyes. 'I will give you a reason to watch this sex-crazed bird witch's mouth.'

AN: Self promo stuff! My profile has all the links to get early access, all my other stuff, support me if you like what I do, or just come to Discord to chat with everyone!